Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) owns an AR-15 for home defense, he revealed on “Fox News Sunday” this week while detailing a scenario in which he would have use the weapon to defend against gangs of looters.
During an interview with host Chris Wallace, Graham challenged Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to bring an assault weapons ban to the Senate floor, claiming that it wouldn’t get 50 votes, much less the 60 required to pass it without changing the filibuster.
“I would challenge Sen. Schumer to bring the assault weapons ban to the floor of the United States Senate. It won’t get 50 votes, much less 60,” he said.
“I own an AR-15,” Graham continued. “If there’s a natural disaster in South Carolina where the cops can’t protect my neighborhood, my house will be the last one that the gang will come to because I can defend myself. You don’t have to have an AR-15, but if you have one lawfully, I think you should be allowed to keep it.”
The comments drew sharp criticism from supporters of an assault weapons ban on social media and on broadcast news networks, including from Parkland shooting survivor Cameron Kasky, who said that the senator was being fed a narrative from gun manufacturers about “apocalyptic” scenarios.
“The suggestion that a twerp like Lindsey Graham can be some sort of tough guy fending away apocalyptic invaders is just the narrative that they sell,” Kasky said on MSNBC’s “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”
Democrats have yet to indicate that they will seek an assault weapons ban following recent mass shootings around the country, including one in Boulder, Colo., where the suspect is believed to have used a pistol designed to operate like an AR-15, known as a Ruger AR-556.
The House recently passed a bill that would expand background checks to all gun sales, and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said this weekend that the bill could reach 60 votes in the Senate, though Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a crucial swing vote, has indicated that he does not yet support it.